Kevin Magnussen

Lore & Background

Born and raised in Roskilde, Magnussen is the son of four-time 24 Hours of Le Mans class-winner and former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. Graduating from karting to junior formulae in 2008, Magnussen won his first championship at the 2008 Danish Formula Ford Championship. He then finished as runner-up to António Félix da Costa at the Formula Renault NEC in 2009, and to Felipe Nasr at the British Formula 3 International Series in 2011. Progressing to Formula Renault 3.5 in 2012, Magnussen won the championship the following season with DAMS.

A member of the McLaren Young Driver Programme since 2010, Magnussen signed with McLaren in to partner Jenson Button. He finished second on his Formula One debut at the , scoring his maiden podium finish and becoming the highest-finishing debutant since Jacques Villeneuve in 1996. Replaced by Fernando Alonso for , Magnussen continued at McLaren as a reserve driver, substituting for Alonso at the season-opener. Magnussen completed a stint at Renault in , before competing with Haas from until the conclusion of the season, finishing a career-best ninth in the World Drivers' Championship.

In 2021, Magnussen moved to the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Cadillac, winning the Detroit Classic; he also contested one round of the IndyCar Series with Arrow McLaren, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans with High Class. Magnussen returned to Haas in to replace Nikita Mazepin, achieving his maiden pole position at the . He retained his seat in and , becoming the first driver since former teammate Romain Grosjean in 2012 to receive a race ban after the latter , before departing at the end of the season.

Magnussen achieved pole position, fastest laps and podium finish in Formula One. He holds the Formula One record for the most career starts without leading a lap (). Magnussen returned to sportscar racing in 2025, joining BMW as a factory driver.

Reader's Guide

Kevin Jan Magnussen was born on 5 October 1992 in Roskilde, Denmark. Magnussen is the son of former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. His cousin Dennis Lind and his half-brother Luca Magnussen are also racing drivers. Magnussen lived in Woking, Surrey, near the McLaren Technology Centre whilst racing for McLaren.

In 2019, Magnussen married Louise Gjørup in a private ceremony. They have two daughters, the first one born in 2021 and the second one born in 2023. He lives in Copenhagen with his family. Magnussen began his career in karting.

In 2008, Magnussen made the step up to Formula Ford in Denmark, taking eleven victories from fifteen races and winning the championship. He also took part in six races of the ADAC Formel Masters series. Between participating in Formula Ford in 2008 and unexpectedly securing sponsorship for Formula Renault in 2009, Magnussen was forced to abandon his racing career and work as a factory welder due to lack of funding. In 2009, Magnussen moved up to Formula Renault 2.0 with Motopark Academy.

He finished runner-up to António Félix da Costa in the Northern European Cup and finished seventh in the Eurocup. In 2010, Magnussen competed in the German Formula Three Championship with Motopark Academy, winning the opening round of the season at Oschersleben and taking two more race victories. He finished third in the championship, taking the rookie title in the process. In 2011, Magnussen moved to the British Formula 3 Championship with Carlin.

He took seven race victories and finished as championship runner-up to teammate Felipe Nasr. He also competed in the Masters of Formula 3 race at Zandvoort, finishing third. 2011 marked Magnussen's first and only appearance at the Macau Grand Prix. He placed seventh in qualifying, but was forced to start from the back of the grid in the qualification race after ignoring yellow flags. He started the main race from nineteenth place, but was eliminated after a high-speed collision late in the race.

Magnussen moved up to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2012 with the Carlin team, with Will Stevens as his teammate. Magnussen finished the opening race at Motorland Aragón in second place, and took pole position in both races at Spa-Francorchamps, converting the second into a race victory. He ended the season in seventh place in the championship.